


'Til Death Us Do Part

by Borderline_Babe



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Blood and Injury, Gen, Not Really Character Death, hurt hurt hurt/comfort, whomp for days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24190288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Borderline_Babe/pseuds/Borderline_Babe
Summary: Sweat stung Rhett’s eyes as he trudged through the muggy, dense forest of pines. Under each arm dug thick branches that plowed deep into the mossy earth as he marched on. Draped over those branches in the crude stretcher was Link - battered, broken and bruised. His friend whimpered at the occasional bounce the sled would take. The sound would pierce Rhett’s very soul. Rhett would give anything to help his friend. Anything.They’d been moving since dawn and Rhett was surprised he was still on his feet. Every muscle in his body ached, his misaligned vertebrae sent painful shocks down his legs, and his stomach cramped around the emptiness; but with Link’s every cry, Rhett was motivated anew to get his friend out of this forest, out of this nightmare.Rhett had one singular purpose. If it was the last thing he did, he was going to save his friend.
Comments: 22
Kudos: 57





	1. From This Day Forward

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first solo multi-chaptered fic. Be gentle :-)
> 
> Thank you to my beautiful Beta, @criminalmind1927.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The GMM episode referenced is GMM S4 E66, GMM #340.
> 
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The bright southern California sun broke the horizon as Rhett traveled the short distance between his house and Link’s. The warm summer weather was hanging on well into October and the clear sky was a relief after the weeks of uncharacteristically rainy weather. 

Link had been his friend for over thirty-five years. His best friend for most of that time. They had even described their relationship similar to that of an old married couple. However, over the last handful of years that friendship had withered under the stress of running their wildly successful YouTube show. Now they were little more than business partners. But even that was strained.

Tempers between the two old friends flared on a regular basis. Their usual give and take was interrupted by angry outbursts and frustration. Stevie, the company’s Chief Creative Officer and show producer, called them into her office last week.

_“I want you two to see a counselor,” She said solemnly._

_“Like, couples counseling?” Link squeaked._

_“Whatever you want to call it.” Stevie waved her hand dismissively, “All I know is that this … this tension is not conducive to a successful show.”_

_The two gentlemen sat in silence. Finally, Rhett spoke up,“God knows I’m just as tired of the constant bickering as you are. But, is counseling really necessary?”_

_“Finally, we agree on something,” Link followed up sarcastically._

_Rhett cut his eyes to Link. “Maybe just a weekend trip. Hiking or something.”_

_“A whole weekend?” Link complained._

_“Jesus, Link. Just once could you think before you whine?” Rhett rubbed his face with both hands._

_“Whine? I’m not wh-- ,” Link stopped himself, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. “All I’m saying is that a whole weekend seems excessive. What about we start with an afternoon together?”_

_“I was prepared for some pushback.” Stevie tucked her long blonde hair behind her ear, reached into her desk drawer, and handed a folder to each man._

_Rhett was the first to speak after flipping through the folder's contents. “Mountain biking?”_

_“Downieville Downhill. I’ve been wanting to go here for years!” Link said wistfully._

_“That’s well and good for Link. I, on the other hand, have no desire --”_

_Stevie interrupted, “Believe me, I took that into consideration. There is also a symposium on tree rings and how they can predict an upcoming apocalypse at the park lodge. The only caveat is that you participate in both activities together.”_

_Both Rhett and Link exhaled and sank in their chairs. They knew Stevie was right and the trip sounded like fun even if it was with a pain in the ass._

Rhett pulled into Link’s driveway and before he could put the car in park, he saw the garage door slide open. Link emerged pushing his mountain bike, scowl firmly planted on his face.

“You’re late,” Link growled.

“Kiss my ass,” Rhett mumbled.

“Nice,” Link whispered under his breath. He hoisted his bike onto the bike rack and locked it.

Rhett shook the bikes to test the lock, looked at Link and asked exasperatingly, “Can we go now?”

“I need to get my backpack.” Link jogged back into the garage. He turned, “I was cleaning out the garage and found a bunch of your stuff. Do you mind getting it out of here?”

Rhett felt a pang at the thought of Link ridding his garage of anything that was his. It felt like when you break-up with someone and they give you back a box of your t-shirts and CDs.

Link pulled the tote off his meticulously kept shelves and handed it to Rhett. Rhett set it down and popped open the container. He immediately recognized the contents as props from a GMM episode where they had talked about their readiness for the apocalypse and Rhett had purchased a few items for Link and himself.

Rhett picked through the contents noting things like a water purifier, a camp stove, and sternos.

"I bought most of this for you," Rhett said softly.

"Come on. Apocalypse? Really?" Link discounted. 

Then a long object caught his eye. Rhett grasped the handle and unsheathed a gleaming, 16-inch hunting knife. He held it up to eye level letting the light glisten across the sharp blade. 

“I’m taking this with me,” he said, mesmerized by the lethal weapon. After re-sheathing the knife, he gleefully clipped the black nylon sheath to his belt.

“Jesus, Rhett. What on _earth_ will you need that for?” Link rolled his eyes and cocked his hip to the side.

“None of your fucking business,” Rhett dismissed but suddenly felt bad. It had become easier and easier to be cruel.

“Whatever, let’s get this over with.” Link hooked the handle of his backpack and headed to the car.

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This was the part Rhett was dreading. Aside from all of it. Driving for hours with Link Neal. Yes, this was the same man he used to do nothing but drive around the back roads of North Carolina singing and talking. Now a long drive with him felt like torture. How in the hell were they going to make it there without one of them pushing the other out of the moving vehicle?

After about ten minutes a deafening silence, Link mercifully drifted off the sleep. Rhett didn’t think he could be more grateful. As the rows of homes slowly morphed into shops, and shops to rolling hills, Rhett let his mind wander. He glanced over to Link noticing his peaceful expression. Rhett couldn’t remember the last time he saw him like that. All he ever got was the ever present scowl or an exasperated sigh and eye roll. When had things changed? How did they get here? Maybe Stevie was right. Maybe it was time to examine that.

After several hours, Rhett pulled off the highway onto a nondescript side road. He remembered the paperwork warning visitors not to use their GPS, but instead use the accompanying map. He knew he would need Link to navigate so he sharply pushed Link’s shoulder, inadvertently knocking his head against the window. _Oh shit._

Link came up out of his nap with a start,“Jesus fucking Christ man!”

“Sorry. I need you to read this stupid map.” Rhett tossed it into Link’s lap.

Link snatched up the map and unfolded the handwritten, trifold rendering of the area roads and typography. He looked around trying to acclimate himself. 

“The sign said Lone Wolf Pass when I turned off the highway,” Rhett tried to help.

“That should be this road,” Link’s finger running down one of the darker lines, “Yeah, this is Lone Wolf Pass. So, we should be looking for a bridge, then a right turn… onto … um .... Pine Bluff Road?” Link glanced up to the road as if to double-check his deduction.

“Just don’t get us lost. I’m starving. I’m counting on that ‘Lunch Provided’ part of the package.” 

“Big, surprise. Rhett’s hungry,” Link ridiculed and rolled his eyes.”Here. This’ll hold you over.” Link reached into his backpack and tossed him a bag of trail mix.

Rhett held the bag of trail mix in complete shock. “Is it poisoned?”

“Dammit Rhett, I’m trying to be nice here,” Link said and turned to stare out the window. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Thank you,” Rhett admitted softly. 

Link continued to look away from Rhett. It seemed they had been at cross purposes for so long now. One extending the olive branch the other answering the effort with some sort of snark. Back and forth. Link found solace in staring out his window. Tall pines studded the mountainside and lined the road. They had been driving for quite some time when a large metal bridge came into focus. When Rhett got the car halfway over the expanse, he slowly came to a stop.

“Wow, look at that water.” Rhett craned his neck to see the white, churning rapids rush beneath the bridge.

Link was in awe as well. “Good thing we weren’t planning on rafting this weekend,” Link said without turning, “All that rain we got sure has the river churning.”

Rhett lurched the car forward as if to quickly distance himself from the dangerous waters. Right after the bridge there appeared a road angling off to the right. Rhett wondered if this was their turn but noticed that there was no signage and the road wasn’t paved like the one they were on.

Rhett stopped the car and watched Link turn the map this way and that to determine if this was the road that they were meant to take.

“Here, gimme the map, Link.” Rhett huffed and grabbed at the paper.

“Hold on a minute.” Link frowned and twisted away. “The issue is scale. There’s no real key here. You know, an inch equals a mile, kinda thing.” Link held the map closer to his face, as if that would help. “But based on the length of time it took us to get down the other road, I’m guessing this might be it.”

“Might?” Rhett cocked an eyebrow.

“What’s the worst thing that could happen, Rhett? We realize we took a wrong turn and have to double back?” He said, whirling his index finger for emphasis.

“And miss lunch, Link!” Rhett whined.

“ _And miss lunch, Link_ ,” Link mocked in an octave higher whine. 

“Jerk,” Rhett retorted.

“Here goes nothing,” Rhett said as he pulled onto the bumpy dirt road. “How long before we know for sure that this is a huge mistake?

“If we don’t see signs for the camp within the next, maybe, 10 miles, I’d be worried,” Link tried to sound assured in his advice. Truth be told, he was already worried but pride kept his false bravado intact.

The road was littered with crevasses cut by rain running to the river that the road seemed to follow alongside. Link could barely make out the white water over the steep cliff out his window. The two-lane dirt road narrowed slightly as they continued on. The pines to his left were crowded out more and more by jagged rocks.

After what seemed like an eternity Rhett exhaled hard through his nose, “Okay, Link, it’s been 12 miles on this road, if you can call it that, and no signs for the camp. As a matter of fact, no signs of civilization at all.” 

“I told you it ‘might’ be the right road,” Link growled back.

“I should have read the damn map myself,” Rhett said under his breath as he craned his neck to see over the cliff on the passenger side of the car.

“Well, I guess we turn around, then,” Link said defensively.

“And where do you suppose we do that, Link?” Rhett spat back, eyebrows low.

Link relented that the road had narrowed significantly between the rocks to the left and cliff to the right.

“We could back up to where the road was a little wider?” Link offered meekly.

Rhett twisted to look behind the car and sucked in air between his teeth. “We could, but one wrong move and we’ll be rafting those waters,” Rhett opined. 

Link peered anxiously over the cliff. “I guess we keep going and pray that it opens up soon.” Rhett inched the car forward. The road, now just a trail, really, was barely as wide as the car and the tension in the car was palpable.

Link eyes flitted from the road to Rhett’s profile. Rhett leaning far forward navigating the car over the ragged trail. “Shit, this was a bad idea,” Rhett moaned. Just as ‘idea’ left his lips, both felt the back end of the car sink and slide down the edge of the cliff.

Link braced himself between the dash and Rhett’s shoulder. 

Rhett stabbed at the break, “No, no, no, nooooo!”


	2. For Better or For Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhett and Link take a wrong turn and end up falling off a cliff. How badly will they be injured? What do the rapids have in store for them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll need to suspend reality. I understand that the police could simply track the last known location of the phones and just search downstream. In this reality, the search grid is composed of anywhere along their traveled route, Burbank to Downieville. Thanks!
> 
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> 
> Thank you to my beautiful beta @criminalmind1927.
> 
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> 
> Posting schedule is every third day.

It all seemed to unfold in slow motion. The back of the car sliding off the road pulling the rest of it over the cliff’s edge. As the car fell through the air, it lazily twisted so that the passenger side of the car hit the water and rocks first. On impact, airbags deployed, glass shattered, metal crunched, and screams silenced.

Dazed, Rhett realized cold water was rushing into the cabin of the car. The crumpled vehicle was on its side and he dangled over Link’s lifeless body by the seat belt. Rhett clawed at the buckle and managed to release himself while trying desperately not to land on Link.

By this time, broken glass and water churned into the car and lapped over Link’s face. Rhett’s hands reached for the buckle to free his unconscious friend, noting on some level that Link was bleeding. He quickly realized the missing windshield was their best hope of escape. The car groaned as it was pulled down river and under water. 

Rhett frantically pulled at Link’s body trying to figure out how to hold him. He settled on reaching around Link’s neck with his left arm while holding his head above the water and swimming with his right. Rhett took a deep breath, tightened his grip under Link’s jaw and pushed through the windshield. 

He surfaced quickly, making sure Link’s nose and mouth were also above water. His heart sank when he realized that even at 6’7”, he could not feel the earth beneath him. The current swiftly pulled them both down stream. Rhett glanced back as the last of the car’s bumper slipped below the water’s surface.

Between the rocks battering his body, the churning current trying desperately to pull them under and the dead weight of Link’s body, Rhett was frantic to keep him and Link above water. Rhett tread water and held desperately to Link’s body for what seemed like a lifetime.

Operating on pure adrenaline, Rhett faired well at first. But after 20 - 30 minutes that resource was dwindling rapidly. Rhett was nearing exhaustion. He prayed to the God of his youth. The God he sang to in church. The one he was taught loved him and all the little children of the world. _Please God, help us._

As if an answer to prayer, the river widened ever so slightly, slowing just enough for Rhett to find his footing and move them to the river’s edge.

He clung to a rock with one arm, Link’s jaw under the other, closed his eyes and thanked whatever force in the universe he could. After a brief reprieve, Rhett pushed Link up over the rock and then hoisted himself up onto another. He lay across the hard stone surface gasping for air and shaking with exhaustion. 

As soon as he was physically able, he began to drag Link, as gingerly as possible, over the rocks to the welcome sight of dry earth. As he gently lay Link’s soaked limp body on the warm grass, Rhett never stopped talking to his friend.

“We made it buddy. We’re out of the water. We’re safe now.” Rhett’s voice barely above a whisper as he panted around the words.

Rhett smoothed Link’s wet bangs away from his closed eyes. “Link? I need you to wake up now. I need you to talk to me, man. Please, open your eyes.”

Link showed no sign of response, but Rhett could see his chest rise and fall.

Rhett began to take inventory of Link’s injuries. The most obvious was the long gash across his chest. Blood bubbled from one end of the cut. The next obvious was the way his right leg bent off to the side. The unnatural angle made Rhett’s stomach flip. Blood also seeped around what appeared to be a stick that was poking out of where the leg bent. 

Rhett pulled off one of his shirts to help slow the bleeding from his friend’s chest. He pressed firmly down on the wound over the ribs and felt the unmistakable grinding of bones. _Oh god._ His world tilted and spun. Rhett closed his eyes and breathed deep. He had to hold it together. For Link.

While he sat holding his shirt to the chest wound, he took the opportunity to look closer at the leg. The bleeding around the stick had slowed. He didn’t know much about first aid, but he knew to leave it in there. He reached down to straighten the limb, hoping that was the proper thing to do. He picked up the lower leg by the pants leg and moved it in line with the rest of the leg. He noticed that the stick moved too. The ghastly realization that it was Link’s leg bone poking through washed over him in a gauzy wave. Rhett twisted away from Link and retched. 

“Link? Link! Please! Please wake up!” Rhett pleaded in loud choking sobs, as he searched his friend’s face for any sign of consciousness. Fear crept around Rhett’s heart and squeezed out all hope. 

Rhett's small voice quivered as he placed his head on Link’s temple. “Link, please. I need you to wake up.” 

Rhett lay beside Link holding his hand tightly to the chest wound and tried to steady his breathing. He let the events of the day play back over in his head while calculating just how bad a spot they were in. They were about 12 miles off course from the park and by his estimation another 20 miles downstream. He wasn’t sure exactly when they would be missed. Surely by sundown, no later than tomorrow morning. Calls would be made. Finding out they never made it there. A search would commence. Unfortunately, the wrecked car would not be found, being underwater now. 

_The phones!_

He patted his back pockets, then remembered seeing it in the dash holder serving as the GPS for the first part of the trip. He reached under Link and felt for the outline of a phone. First pocket he felt a wallet. He angled under his other side and felt the unmistakable shape of a cell phone. Yes! His heart soared. He wiggled it out from underneath Link and his gaze fell upon the shattered screen. With nothing to lose he squeezed at the power button. Nothing. Surely as the fall had crushed his friend, so had it crushed his phone. He sighed and tossed it aside.

Rhett fought despair. He took a deep breath and focused again on assessing what they had to work with. Looking around his eyes rested on the black nylon sheath dangling from his belt. Rhett almost cried with relief. He pulled the knife from the pouch, snapped to his belt and unscrewed the end of the handle. It held a compass, fishing line and 12 waterproof matches. The sheath had pockets that held a flashlight and an animal snare. (GMM S4 E66 GMM #340) Things were looking up. Rhett smiled to himself. _We might just make it._

He lay there holding pressure to Link’s chest wound until the sun was high in the sky. His and Link’s clothes were just about dry and they were finally warmed up after being in the river for so long. He was sick with worry. How bad was Link injured? He watched his breathing which had been steady. He could feel his heart beat as he held pressure to the wound and it too was steady. He gambled a peek under the t-shirt and was immensely relieved that the bleeding had stopped.

Rhett tied his shirt around Link’s chest to serve as a bandage. It was crude, but it would have to do. He then began to assess Link’s injured leg. He would need to stabilize the break somehow. Rhett walked a few yards into the forest looking for suitable limbs. He gathered up several and quickly returned to his friend. He whittled the bark off using the knife until the wood was smooth. He cut away the pants leg just above the knee fully exposing his mangled limb. As he had surmised, one of the lower leg bones protruded angrily through the skin. Rhett’s hands shook and he could hear his pulse in his ears louder than the rushing water nearby. He secured the branches to either side of Links lower leg with strips of denim. He cut away the sleeve of Link’s shirt to offer some type of bandage around the leg wound.

“My Boy Scout training finally came in handy.” Rhett smiled wearily as he sat back on his heels and admired his handiwork.

“I don’t know how. You only showed up for one meeting,” a hoarse whisper came from Link’s chapped lips.

“You’re awake!” Rhett screamed and scrambled to grasp Links shoulders.

Link groaned and slowly opened his eyes, squinting against the afternoon sun. Only moving his eyes as he looked around and then back to Rhett’s concerned face.

“Where are- What happened?” Link croaked. Link went to lift his arm to shield his eyes and groaned in pain. Rhett adjusted himself over Link to provide shade.

“Don’t move. You, ah, you’re in pretty bad shape.” Rhett explained solemnly and lowered his eyes. 

“What?” His voice getting stronger, he raised his head to try and see the damage. Searing pain painted his vision white, he released a high pitched whine and rested his head back.

“Seriously, be still. When the car hit the water, you got banged up pretty bad. There’s some kind of chest wound and broken ribs, I think. Plus, you have a broken leg with the bone… It’s not good. Just lay still.” As Rhett listed the injuries, his voice got higher and tighter until he finished with a squelch.

Link looked off to the side chewing his cheek trying to process all of the information he was given. 

Trying to soothe them both, Rhett continued, “Listen, there will be people looking for us soon. We just need to hang tight.” Knowing already what the answer had to be, he still asked, “How do you feel?”

“I feel like I got hit by a bus.” Link said, but noticed Rhett’s worried expression. “But it’s not so bad when I’m still.” Link tried to reassure Rhett and was happy to see his eyebrows relax a bit.

“Since we’re going to be here for a bit, I’m going to build a fire. We’re warm now, but it’s going to get chilly after nightfall. Plus, you know, animals and stuff.” Rhett looked around as if mentioning them would summon them.

“Animals?” Link squeaked. 

“Well, yeah. The place we were headed to was out in the middle of nowhere. From what I remember from the GPS, the Camp is the closest thing to civilization we’re going to find. So, we kinda ended up in their backyard. We can’t be surprised if we run into a few.” Rhett flinched at the edge that came out with. 

He took a deep breath and met Link’s wide eyes. “Listen, I’m here. I got you. We’re gonna make it out of here. Okay?”

Link nodded while holding his eyes on Rhett.

“I’m gonna go round up some firewood. Are you gonna be okay out here in the sun?” Rhett scanned his bruised face noting a pink tinge from the sunlight thus far.

“I don’t think so, but I sure ain’t looking forward to moving.” Link mumbled gloomily.

Rhett thought for a moment, combing his beard with his fingers. His fingers tracing the wooden splint around Link’s leg.

“I think I have an idea.” Rhett said hopefully as he stood up. 

Link watched him as he dragged branches and large pine fronds out of the forest edge. Maybe it was all those years playing and exploring in the woods as kids, or maybe that engineering degree finally paid off, or a combination of both, but Rhett was assembling an impressive looking stretcher.

Covered in pine sap and glistening with sweat, Rhett positioned the stretcher next to Link.

“Okay, buddy. I’m going to move your top half over, then the bottom half. I wish I could just pick you up, but the last thing we need is for my back to go out.” Rhett squinted through the sweat.

“It’s gonna hurt, isn’t it?” Link whispered, more to himself.

“Like hell, brother.” Rhett looked away, trying to keep from chickening out.

“Well, let’s just get it over with.” Link resigned.

Rhett positioned himself at Link’s head and reached under each shoulder.

“On the count of three, buddy. One... two… three.” Rhett easily moved his friend's torso over to the bed of pine. The scream that Link released echoed across the water and off the surrounding trees. Birds took flight to distance themselves from the intense sound. Rhett’s blood turned to ice and looked down at Link. His face had paled, his lips the same color as his face. His eyes rolled back into his head as it slumped to the side. Rhett realized that the intense pain of the movement had overwhelmed Link’s body and he had mercifully passed out. He quickly took advantage of the situation and positioned the lower half on the sled. He picked up the two main support branches under his arms and drug Link into the shaded forest.

He then went about the process of building the fire. He dug a simple pit and layered the wood. The timing worked out and just as he was ready to light his fire, he noticed that he was losing daylight.

Using his godsend of waterproof matches, the fire lit up the now darkened rudimentary campsite. Rhett was beyond exhausted. He crawled over to where Link lay and collapsed.

The last thing he heard as sleep pulled his helpless conscience below was the far away howl of wolves.

.


	3. To Love and Comfort Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhett figures out how to take care for Link's injuries with very little to work with.
> 
> Link urges Rhett to leave him behind and save himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to my beautiful beta, @criminalmind1927.
> 
> ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> 
> Posting schedule is every 3 days.

Rhett awoke on his back looking up into the canopy of pines. As he stared at the slivers of light blue sky and thought to himself that this was a very realistic dream. He breathed deep the fresh earthen air and listened as the forest creatures chattered to each other. 

The first crack in his delusion was the awakening realization that there was not one square inch of his body that did not ache or downright hurt. Including a gnawing ache of hunger. As Rhett slowly rose to full consciousness, he heard Link moan from next to him.

The reality of the situation crashed fully into Rhett’s awareness and he sprung to sitting up. His head spun around to see Link’s broken body still laying on the bed of pine fronds. 

Rhett leaned over, “Link. Link, hey.”

Link opened his eyes and tried desperately to focus. 

“Water,” Link croaked out of chapped lips.

Rhett thought for a moment. The river was right there. He had certainly drank at least a gallon of it the day before while trying not to drown. But was it safe? Especially given Link’s fragile state. If he had a pot, he could boil it but as it was, water with a little bacteria was better than no water at all.

He really didn’t want to move Link, but how to get him the water? He walked back towards the river and noticed a wide leafed plant. He layered the leaves in his hands to form a crude bowl. He scooped up the water and hurried back to Link. While it did leak, there still were a few gulps of water remaining. Link held his head up as Rhett poured it in his mouth. 

“That’s enough. Thanks,” Link whispered, relaxed and closed his eyes. 

“How do you feel?” Rhett ventured.

Link turned his head and looked at Rhett through half open eyes. What wasn’t covered in mud was pale. He took a breath, which spurred a cough fit. The cacophony of rattling lungs and cries of pain seared through Rhett.

“Shh. Sorry. Don’t try to talk.” Rhett gently placed his hand on Link’s shoulder.

Link finally quieted and softly moaned.

Rhett’s eyes ran over his friend’s injuries. The good news was that both dressings, the chest and the leg didn’t seem to have any new blood on them. Good. No new blood meant one less worry. He wasn’t going to bleed to death. Rhett had never really had the occasion to familiarize himself with medicine other than to treat his kids cuts and scrapes. And with that small foray into biology, he knew Link needed clean dressings and antibiotic ointment, well, antibiotics really. 

“No CVS open around here,” Rhett said to no one.

That left clean dressings. The strips of clothing were all he had to work with and seemed to do a good job of staving of bleeding and at least keeping the dirt out, But they had been there for a bit and probably needed to be changed, Rhett looked down at his remaining t-shirt and jeans as well as Link’s tattered t-shirt and pieces of jeans and came up empty.

The least he could do was remove the makeshift dressings and do his best to wash them out in the river. He revisited his same concerns about river bacteria and decided to only worry about the things he could do something about. And right now, Link needed fresh dressings.

“What was that about CVS?” Link asked without opening his eyes.

“Nothing. Just trying to figure out how to change your dressings.”

Link lifted his head and peeked through one eye at his chest. 

“Oh, God,” he said and laid his head back.

“Hey, hey. Don’t look, okay,” Rhett softly chastised.

Rhett set to unwrapping the clothing mostly caked in blood. He gathered them onto a large leaf. The exposed wounds looked an angry red but no bleeding. 

“I’m going to go wash these out in the river.”

“Wait.” Link raised his head. “You’re gonna leave me here?”

“I have to Link. The fire is going so I wouldn’t worry about … you know. Look, we need these cleaned so they can cover your wounds. I’ll do it as fast as I can.”

He laid a few large leaves over the wounds so that Link could not see them, handed Link the knife and he headed for the river. He aggressively rubbed the strips together under the rushing water, careful not to lose grip. He watched the crimson trails flow from his hands. With the vigorous scrubbing, he was panting hard as he got the last of the strips rubbed clean.

Once back to camp he stoked the fire and lined up rocks to hang the strips to dry.

A few moments passed and Link spoke clearly, “You need to leave me here and go get help.”

Rhett’s head snapped back to Link. He stared for a minute in shock that Link would say such a thing. Sadness overcame him that Link thought he could ever do that. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not leaving you.”

Tears began to stream down the sides of Link’s face as he lay there. “Listen, we both know I’m not going to make it. Please, just save yourself,” Link’s voice cracked.

“We know nothing of the sort! God damn you Link don’t you fucking give up! We are both going to make it out of here!” Rhett heard his voice echo through the forest.

There was a long silence.

“At least you still feel that yelling is the way to discuss things.” Link said with no heat.

“And you still like playing the martyr,” Rhett responded with even less heat. “I’m not delusional. I know it’s bad. But we have to start making smart decisions,” Rhett reasoned.

“Unlike my decision to take the turn that led us here,” Link managed to say with an edge.

Rhett was sitting on the ground with his arms resting on his bent knees. He let his head drop to his chest, again. Had things gotten so bad that even in the face of death they still couldn’t resist the urge to argue?

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that we have to try not to panic and think this thing through logically,” Rhett said evenly. “By my calculations, we are about 30 miles from the camp and at least 50 miles from the nearest town. The car sank and phones busted, so there are no real clues to lead them to us. I figure our best bet is to head back towards the camp to increase the chances that they find us.”

“And you are just going to pull me the whole way? How fast could we possibly travel like that? And for how long? I still think it makes more sense for you to leave me he--”

“Link!” Rhett cut him off. “I’m not leaving you. I can’t leave you.” Rhett started to cry. The weight of the situation finally broke through his defenses. “I need you.”

Link lay quietly. Rhett’s final words hung heavily in the air,

Link set his jaw, “Okay, then. Let’s get out of here.”


	4. To Honor and Keep Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhett hunts for food and so do the wolves.
> 
> Rhett and Link recognize that they've drifted apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beautiful beta, @criminalmind1927.
> 
> |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> 
> Posting schedule is every 3 days.

“That’s the Link we know and love.” With that Rhett set out to prepare to leave.

He made quick work with re-dressing Link’s wounds. It still turned his stomach to see the gaping wounds but he was getting adept at covering them well.

“Okay. That should hold you until tomorrow.” Rhett sat back on his heels and admired his work.

“Rhett?” Link asked weakly as he slowed his breathing down after the painful dressing change.

“Yeah, buddy.” 

“I’m real hungry.”

The adrenaline from the first day was wearing off and the hunger that replaced it was almost overwhelming. 

“I know. Me too,” Rhett answered as he looked around like the answer lay in the thick woods that surrounded them.

Rhett pulled out the knife's sheath and fished out the lure.

“Let’s see what this thing can do,” Rhett said hopefully as he unraveled the line.

“You need bait,” Link offered.

“Well, thankfully we have that in spades.”

Rhett walked over to a felled tree and rolled it over. Underneath squirmed a myriad of tiny creatures. He picked out the fattest of the array.

“You know, we could just eat these,” Rhett said as he examined the fat grub. “We’ve eaten worse on the show.”

“Let’s call that Plan B,” Link answered.

“I’ll have to leave again,” Rhett warned softly.

Link’s eyebrows knitted with worry, “I’m more hungry than scared right now.”

“Hopefully, I won’t be long. We’ll be feasting on grilled fish soon,” Rhett promised as he arranged the pine fronds for Link's comfort.

Rhett stoked the fire back to life and started the short trip to the nearby river. On his way he was overcome with thankfulness that the sheath had held a fishing line. Of all the unfortunate luck they had had so far, the knife and all of its accouterments would surely give them a fighting chance. 

His brief foray into thankfulness was short-lived as he realized that the raging current of the river did not bode well for fishing.

He glanced over his shoulder to see Link laying by the fire and decided he could venture slightly up stream in search of an eddy of some sort. As he eased up the river he kept looking back to make sure he had an eye on Link. After a few yards, he saw a small pool in the distance. Unfortunately, that would put him out of sight line of his injured friend. He weighed the hope of much needed food and decided to journey onward.

He immediately saw a few smaller fish, but nothing big enough to eat. They darted in and out of the pool of water. His growing anxiety was reaching fever pitch when thankfully a few good sized Brim darted into the pond.

“Yes!”

Years of fishing as a kid prepared him for the delicate maneuvers necessary to lure the fish to the hook. Rhett struggled to calm his breathing, but his weary, weak hand betrayed him. His jerky movements startled the fish and they darted back into the rapids.

Rhett couldn’t help the tears that streamed down his face. 

“Come on Rhett. Get it together.” Rhett took long slow breaths and waited patiently for the next try.

A few moments later and much larger trout found refuge in the pond. Rhett shook with anticipation. He lowered his line and closed his eyes. He tried to think of anything to calm himself down. 

Another river. Far away on the other side of the world, it seemed. Link beside him floating on the surface, face to the sun. Rhett smiled at the memory as he felt a tug to his line. He instinctively yanked and set the hook.

“Wahoo!” Rhett celebrated as he pulled up the large fish. “Link is going to be so stoked.”

Rhett practically skipped back to Link with his prize. “Hey, Link, you are never going to believe what I--.” the word ‘did’ died on his lips. Standing over Link licking at his wounds was a large drooling wolf. 

Link was still laying on the stretcher, but now he had his eyes tightly closed and tears streaming down.

When Rhett had approached, the wolf lifted his head towards him and bared his teeth with a deep rumbling growl. 

At first fear turned his blood to ice, but then his emotions took a turn. That was his friend. His best friend. His partner through this life. And this son of a bitch is going to try and take Link from him? Like hell he is. The thought burned in Rhett’s mind and he felt himself rage with adrenaline.

Rhett slowly lowered the fish and on his way back up wrapped his hand around the handle of his knife. Once again thanking the universe, or God, or just plain old good fortune for it. 

The wolf turned his body towards Rhett in response. 

“Come at me, you hairy motherfucker,” Rhett dared the wolf.

Rhett took a small step forward. In response the wolf lowered his body. There would be no “shooing away” this animal. This wolf had smelled blood and wasn’t going to just abandon his newly found prey. Rhett was ready. He took one more step towards Link and the wolf sprung at Rhett, connected with his chest, and pushed him back onto the ground. Rhett had both hands on the wolf’s neck holding his teeth away from his throat. In one hand he grasped the knife. 

Rhett struggled with everything he had to maneuver the knife blade around in his fist and against the snarling wolf’s throat. Rhett’s grunt turns screams as he forced the blade through the thick skin of the beast, twisting when he felt bone. The animal yelped as Rhett twisted the sharp blade deep into the wolf’s neck. The animal went limp and fell to Rhett’s side. 

Rhett laid there gasping for air, shivering with spent adrenaline.

“Rhett?? Oh god, Rhett?” Links voice was weak, breathy and lost in terror. 

Rhett scrambled to his knees and crawled over the Link. 

“I’m here, I’m okay. It’s okay,” Rhett soothed.

Link was hysterical. “The wolf-. He was-. And you-,” Link gasped, cutting off his words.

“Link. Link, hey. Look at me.” Rhett stroked Link’s face. “Listen. He’s dead. The wolf is dead. And I’m okay. Look. See, I’m o-”

Rhett looked down as if to direct Link’s eyes and only to realize he was covered in wolf blood.

Link had opened his eyes and turned his head to see Rhett. He immediately gasped, “Oh my God, Rhett. Oh my God!”

“That’s not me. That’s--. Hold on.” Rhett raced to the river, yanked off his shirt and made quick work of rinsing off the blood.

Shirt in hand he ran back to Link’s side. “See, just me and my pasty white self. No bites or anything.”

Link seemed to calm down at Rhett’s attempt at humor. “You killed a wolf.” Link said softly.

“Yeah. I guess I did.” Rhett sat back and looked at the mound of fur. 

“I couldn’t let him eat my best friend,” Rhett said as he ran his fingers over Link’s hair. “And guess what that means?” Rhett stood and walked over to where he laid the fish. “We can have surf or turf.” Rhett held the fish up and then pointed to the dead wolf.

“Gross.” Link made a face. "Fish.”

“Listen, you can’t be picky out here,” Rhett jabbed.

Rhett worked deftly to clean the trout and speared it with a small, whittled branch. In no time, the starving men were eating their fill of fish. 

Rhett held the last bite up to Link’s lips. “I can’t. I’m full.” Link whined.

“Don’t care. Eat up.” Rhett insisted.

Link relented and finished off his dinner. “Still hard-headed I see.” Licking the last of the meat off his fingers.

Rhett laughed loudly. “That fish must be working miracles, you’re back to your old argumentative self.”

“I think so.” Link smiled.

“While you enjoy a post dinner nap, I’m going to get that wolf cooked up. I dressed him the way dad showed me how to dress a deer. Can’t be much different.”

Rhett cut long steaks from the wolf carcass and cooked them on the well done side hoping it would last longer that way. When he finished he figured he had about three days worth of meat, not including other fruitful trips to the river. 

Rhett watched as Link snored lightly and smiled to himself. He couldn’t remember the feelings of animosity or frustration. All he could feel was love for this man. Everything else was insignificant.

“You’re staring.” Link croaked

“I guess I am.” Rhett smiled warmly.

“Creeper,” Link joked with a crooked smile.

“A creeper that saved your life today.” Rhett feigned hurt.

“You’re right, you’re right. Thanks for that by the way,” Link said.

“‘By the way’. Asshole. Get a little food in you and--.” Rhett joked.

“I know. I have been an asshole,” Link said and looked away. After a long silence, “What happened to us, man?”

“I dunno. Life, I guess. Too many meetings, not enough time just to hangout. Too many working lunches, not enough time laughing over burgers. Life, man,” Rhett pondered

The sun set below the horizon and the two men lay side by side by the light of the fire.

Link reached over and took Rhett's hand, “I missed you, Rhett.”

Rhett rubbed the back of Link's hand with his thumb, “I missed you, too.”


	5. This Is My Solemn Vow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link's injuries worsen leaving him with a high fever. This high fever sparks a delirium that unveils some old resentments. Is this where they started to go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beautiful beta, @criminalmind1927.
> 
> |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> 
> Posting schedule is every 3 days.

“S'cold.” Link whispered through chattering teeth.

Rhett rolled over and blinked the sleep from his eyes. “Okay, bo, I’ll get the fire started again.” 

Before he got up to do that, he felt Link’s face. It was burning hot. He frantically removed all the pine fronds and dressings. Rhett had grown accustomed to the angry red wounds but today something was different. Both wounds were yellowing and a dark red streak extended up from the leg wound. He had no idea what that meant but he knew it couldn’t be good.

Rhett laid his hand gingerly on Link’s chest. With each breath, Rhett could feel the wheezes and rattles in his fingertips. His heart sank at the realization that both injuries were worsening and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing except get them closer to the camp so that they would be easier to find.

“Jade. Come’re,” Link said to no one, eyes closed.

Rhett’s heart sank further. Link was delirious with a high fever.

“Lando, where’s Jade?” Link mumbled.

“Hey, bo. I’m going to run to the river. I’ll be right back.” Rhett knew that Link had likely not heard him. Even though things appeared to be worsening, he felt that the bandages still needed to be cleaned. 

Rhett tried to calm himself as he set about the task of washing the bandages. Link was deteriorating fast This meant that they would need to move faster and go farther. He needed now more than ever to get Link out.

Rhett got back to Link and began hanging-up the dressings by the fire. He made another trip to bring some water to try and cool Link down.

As he dabbed the water over Link’s face, Link dreamily asked, “How could you, Rhett?”

Rhett was sure Link wasn’t actually asking him, so he just listened.

“A _[unintelligible]_ movie.” Link face pinched.

 _What?_ Rhett wondered.

“Guardians of the _[unintelligible]_. What a stupid name for a _[unintelligible]_ ,” Link stated with distaste.

 _Guardians of the Galaxy?_ Rhett had been approached to read for the part of Taserface. He remembered asking Link if it would be okay to pursue something on his own. Link had acted like it was no big deal.

“You chose a _[unintelligible]_ over us,” Link said through fevered tears.

 _Had he really been upset about this?_ Rhett thought back to that time. While he had been pursuing the role, there had been readings and callbacks. He missed quite a bit of work. Link seemed to effortlessly pick-up the slack without complaint.

Rhett ended up not getting the part. He was naturally disappointed but flattered to have been asked. He had gotten right back to work and Link never said a word about it. 

_You chose a movie over us? Is that what he meant?_ Rhett struggled to remember any clues to Link’s feelings back then. His mind combed back through the memories over the past few years. _When had things started to go wrong? When did the natural chemistry between them need to be faked? When did they start to resent --_

Did Link resent him? Rhett remembered it was such a thrill to be asked to read. Casting calls alongside “real actors”, lunches of “their people” and “his people”, getting the call that the casting people “loved him” and wanted him to come back.

It was all such a whirlwind thing. He didn’t even remember if he had even given thought to how it would impact the business or impact Link. Link seemed happy for him. Kept assuring him that they could continue to shoot Good Mythical Morning around his schedule.

Yes, he remembered… Link was happy for him. Things were good back then. _They_ were good. 

It happened so insidiously. Link seemed to delight in pushing his buttons, like only Link could. He knew where all Rhett's buttons were. As a matter of fact it seemed like he had installed a few in the 35 years they had been friends. Link would goad, Rhett would retaliate. Things would escalate. At first they would talk it out and get their relationship back on track. Somewhere along the line they seemed to get tired of trying to fix it.

They weren’t a team anymore. It wasn’t Rhett and Link against the world. It was Rhett and Link against each other. 

They weren’t a _team_ …

He wasn’t acting like he was on one when he pursued the movie.

_That’s it._

Well, they were a team now. And he was going to do what he could to keep this team together. For a long time.

Rhett stripped all the ferns fronds off of Link. He saw Link visibly shaking. He knew from taking care of his kids that he needed to cool Link down. It seemed cruel, but it had to be done.

Link continued to talk, but too softly for Rhett to make out anything.

He combed Link’s sweaty bangs back with loving care. “We need to get going. Okay?”

Link muttered something. His head moved from side-to-side.

Rhett doused the fire and made one more assessment of the sled he had reinforced earlier and deemed it good to go.

Rhett squatted in front of the sled and straightened his legs to stand. Pain shot down the backs of both legs. Rhett saw white and stumbled forward. He grit his teeth and muscled through the pain. Slowly he moved forward with Link in tow. He’d worry about the damage to his back another day. _If there was one._ He shook his head as if to knock the negativity from his thoughts. _We are going to make it out of this._

Rhett found a helpful way to keep up his pace. He would sing different songs in his head and try his best to walk to the rhythm. He was doing well, he thought. He would periodically stop and check the compass to make sure they were still headed in the right direction. 

He had kept Link uncovered. He was kind of glad that Link was out of it. He had to be miserable.

With very little terrain to judge distance by, Rhett had taken to counting his steps to the music in his head. By his calculations they had traveled almost 6 miles when he tripped. The sled dropped heavily and Link moaned.

“Oh, God. Link. I am so sorry. I guess I’m more tired than --.” Rhett stood back up and was trying to get to Link’s side when he tripped again.

“What the hell?” Rhett stood again. He took a step then went to take another when he noticed that his foot dangled down.

_Fuck._

When he was initially diagnosed with bulging and herniated discs, he read voraciously on spinal issues. He knew that having “foot drop” meant the discs in the spinal column had moved out of alignment so much that they pressed on the nerve to an extent that they have cut off the communication to the foot. His orthopedist had warned him that if he experienced foot drop to call immediately because surgery would need to be performed soon or risk permanent nerve damage.

To stop the damage he would need to quit walking and lay completely still. They would have to stop. That decision could end Link’s life. To Rhett that wasn’t an option.

“Rhett?” 

Rhett was pulled from his inner thoughts by the sound of Link weeping. 

Rhett knelt beside his best friend, his brows knitting as he searched the bruised face of his friend. Tears cut paths down his grimy cheeks. Link seemed to be fully conscious now.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, buddy. We’ve stopped, now. Shhhhh.” Rhett wiped at his tears with his thumb.

“I’m sorry, Rhett. I just can’t take any more…” Link looked at Rhett with guilty eyes.

“Stop it, now.” Rhett cut him off softly. “You did real good. I think we've gone a good six miles. I was getting tired anyway. This spot here looks as good as any to make camp.” 

Rhett pulled out the wolf meat he had carefully wrapped in a large leaf.

“You need to eat something to keep your strength up,” Rhett begged, holding up a piece to Link’s lips. Link lay there with his head turned away.

“I can't. It’ll just come right back up.” Link looked back at Rhett. He swallowed hard as tears slid down his cheeks. “Bo, I’m begging you. Please, just leave me here. One of us needs to make it out.

Rhett let his arms fall to his sides. Link knew that Rhett would never leave him, sure as he knew the sun rises in the east each morning. Link was giving up. Rhett felt his cheeks redden with anger.

“Damn it, Link! Don’t you dare give up!" Rhett got close to Link's face. "Listen to me. You _will_ fight and you _will_ stay alive and you _will_ make it out of here. We are going to have another 35 years, side-by-side. Do you hear me?!”

Link’s eyes cleared. Then he took a breath and grinned, “70 years? With you?”

“And 35 after that. Now eat your wolf.” Rhett gave him a half smile.

Rhett fed Link as the two stared warmly at each other.

“You know you were kind of out of it back there,” Rhett ventured. “You said some things.”

“Yeah, like what?’

“About me trying out for Guardians.”

“Oh...” Link looked away.

“Didn’t sound like you were too happy I tried out for it.”

Link seemed to mull over the question as if the answer was painful.

“When you auditioned, it felt like you stopped choosing us. Stop choosing me.”

The two sat in silence.

Rhett spoke first, “I’m sorry Link. I can see how you could feel that way. A true friend would not have done that."

Link turned his head to look at Rhett. He looked like he felt heard, he felt understood, he felt loved.

Rhett set his hand on Link's shoulder. "I can’t change the last three years but I can make a promise to you _now_. I will always put us first." 

“Are you making another oath?” Link grinned.

“Well, we have enough blood for one,” Rhett huffed with a laugh and winced at the gallows humor. "I’m going to get everything setup then I’ll catch us some more fish.”

Rhett was getting good at setting up camp, even with his foot dragging he made good time. Digging a fire pit, making a bed out of pine needles and ferns. 

“Rhett, what’s up with your fo--”

“Shhh!” Rhett held up his hand to signal for Link to be quiet.

The characteristic rhythmic whomping sound could only be one thing.

_A helicopter._


	6. In Times of Plenty and Times of Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhett and Link fight to survive as they move slowly towards the camp hoping to be rescued. Link's injuries deteriorate and Rhett ignores warning signals his body is sending him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you my dear sweet beta, @criminalmind1927. And thank you dear reader for being patient with this struggling little fic writer.

Rhett sprinted for the river. His dragging foot caused him to trip a few times. He scurried to stand and clawed his way to the clearing. As he broke through the trees, his eyes searched the sky. In the distance he saw it. A helicopter seemed to slowly follow the river towards him. He felt it was obvious that someone was looking for them but he didn’t take any chances.

He quickly ripped off his shirt and waved it frantically over his head. “Hey, we're here! Over here, god dammit!” Rhett shouted until he was hoarse. To his dismay the chopper turned around just short of his frantic display and headed back in the direction of the camp. 

It was all too much. Rhett collapsed to the ground, his body wracked with sobs. He cried because he was exhausted. He cried because he was sick with worry about Link. He cried because they had been so close. He cried until he just couldn’t anymore.

Rhett struggled to stand, his legs trying to betray him. When he managed to walk back, Link seemed to pickup on his body language that the chopper had not seen him. He closed his eyes and turned his head away so Rhett couldn’t see his eyes well up.

“They were definitely looking for us. They’ll be back. I just know it,” Rhett said hopefully.

Rhett and Link were quiet for the rest of the evening. Disappointment hung heavy in the air. Rhett set about catching a few fish. That, along with the remaining wolf meat, made a filling meal. He rolled up the left-overs in a large leaf and made his sleeping pallet of pine straw next to Link. 

Rhett stared into the fire and allowed himself for the first time to think about his family. He had tried desperately not to imagine the worry they were suffering. Did they think Link and he had just left them? _Please, please don’t think that Jessie. I love you so much._

Rhett’s eyes misted over and he coughed to clear his throat and wiped his eyes. He could not afford to spiral into depression. He must stay strong.

“We’ll get closer to camp tomorrow,” Rhett promised. “They’ll see us tomorrow.”

When Link remained silent, Rhett looked over and saw that his eyes were closed. “It’s been a hard day, you sleep well, brother,” Rhett whispered and kissed his forehead.

Rhett lay back on the scratchy pine straw and let sleep claim his exhausted body. Sleeping so deeply, in fact, that he was unaware of the pair of glowing golden eyes and interested sniffs on the edge of camp.

Rhett awoke the same way he had the last three mornings. If circumstances were different, he would actually enjoy the nature surrounding him. The towering old growth pine trees, the beautiful birds, the fresh air. However, he was trapped in this forest. If it wasn’t for his compass he would be convinced they were traveling in circles. The terrain never changed. His mind would play tricks on him causing him to think he had already seen the same rock formations or cluster of trees.

Rhett stretched his aching limbs and throbbing back. First thing was always to check on Link.

“Hey buddyroll.’ Rhett said with a yawn.

Link was never quick to wake up under the best of circumstances, so Rhett was unconcerned when Link stayed quiet. He set about his morning routine of changing Link’s dressings.

“For breakfast today you have a choice of meat and fish or fish and meat.”

Link did not respond.

“Ah come on, man, that was funny.”

No response from Link.

Rhett shook Link’s shoulders, “Link?”

Link’s body gave limply with Rhett’s efforts.

_Please God, no._

Rhett reached out a shaky hand and laid it on Link’s chest. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the rattling breath.

_He’s alive._

Relief washed over him but worry gripped his heart. It seemed that Link was now in some sort of coma. Time was running out. He rushed to grab the meat and leftover fish that were wrapped in leaves so he could quickly eat and head out. He found the leaves but the fish and meat were gone.

For the second time in the span of a few minutes, his blood ran cold. _Something had been there last night and ate their food. Was it more wolves? Were they sated on the scraps and left them alone? Were they watching them? Following them?_ Rhett shook his head to clear his mind of the swirling paranoia. 

_Keep it together._

Rhett focused on the bizarre routine of unwrapping Link’s wounds and washing out the dressings. The activity had become more gag-inducing as the wounds deteriorated into weeping, pus-filled openings. Rhett didn’t know if he was doing more harm than good, but it was all he knew to do.

Today offered a new circle of hell. Maggots. Rhett’s first inclination was to scoop the interlopers from the wounds, however, a once useless piece of knowledge bubbled up to his awareness. Maggots ate dead flesh. Maggots were a good thing.

He tried to settle the bile in his stomach with a few hastily caught fish swearing to himself if, _no when_ , they got out, he would never eat a bite of fish again. _Fuck sushi._

He tried to wet Link’s lips with water without choking him. “Come on, bo. Stay with me. Please stay with me. They’ll be here soon. I just know it.”

He set out with Link in tow. He had to step high to account for his foot drop. It slowed him down but he vowed to just walk longer. Foot drop was a warning his body was sending him, but he wasn’t listening to anything that didn’t involve getting Link out of here.

He sang his cadence songs, checked his compass and looked in on Link. Each time preparing for the worst, but so far Link was holding on. He was glad that Link’s stubbornness was finally coming in handy. He did all these things while listening for the helicopter. He heard the birds, the frogs, and the ever present soundtrack to this terror - the rushing river. But no helicopter.

He had been counting his steps and felt they had been about five miles when they came to a clearing. Rhett sighed to himself as he contemplated how ubiquitous the clearing looked. He could have sworn it looked just like the clearing they stopped at last night. His eyes scanned looking for … and there it was, their old fire pit and pine needle bedding. 

_No._

He set Link down and wiped his eyes feeling the sting of sweat and opened them again. No fire pit. No collection of pine needles. 

_Come on, man. Keep it together._

Rhett sat on the ground next to Link, then rolled over and laid his head on Link’s shoulder. “I know you can’t hear me, but I really need my friend right now. I need to hear your voice. I don’t care if you whine or complain. I don’t care if you tell me I’m doing something wrong or have an idea for a ‘another way’ to do it. I don’t care. I just need you, man.” Rhett reached out for Link’s hand. He pulled it up to his wet face and held it to his cheek. 

I need you, buddy.

Rhett awoke in the dark to his body shivering in the cold. He felt around in the dark for a few pieces of kindling to light and help see. He started a small fire with that and gathered more substantial branches for a proper fire. 

He’s not sure if it was the way he bent over or just the last straw, but he went to pick-up a small log for the fire and he was instantly laying on the ground. _What the-?_ He sat up and moved his body to stand but his legs did not move. He grabbed his legs and felt different areas and realized he could feel them, he just could not move them.

 _Why now?_

_After all that walking and pulling the sled and this was the straw that literally broke my back?_ He knew this was a consequence of his continued abuse of his back. He accepted his responsibility for that. He would have gladly traded his legs for the distance they were able to travel. They were much closer to camp now.

What could he do now? As he sat there trying to make sense of it all, he saw the firelight’s reflection in two sets of eyes. Rhett’s blood turned to ice.

His hand flew to his knife as his mind calculated the possibility of winning another fight with a wolf without the use of his legs. Let alone two wolves.

The fire he had the chance to build was too small to last very long. As the last of the kindling turned to ember, Rhett watched the two wolves venture closer.

He did not travel this far to just to die by the work of a few hungry wolves. Rhett gripped his knife and held it in front of him. The darkness enveloped a terrified Rhett and an unconscious Link.

Rhett tried to even out his shallow pants and calm his shaking hands. He listened closely for the movement of the wolves.

Rhett pulled himself over to Link and sat with the knife toward where he thought the animals might be. Rhett could hear the sniffing of the wolves at his feet.

_This isn’t how it ends for us. It can’t be._


	7. Forsaking All Others

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhett and Link are approaching the end of their journey. But that may not be a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beautiful beta, @criminalmind1927.

They had been at this game for hours. The two wolves would inch close enough for Rhett to hear their sniffs in the dark and he would swing a branch that he had pulled off Link’s sled to an effort to scare them back a few yards. Then they would creep back. The wolves had caught scent of Link’s wounds and weren’t going to just give up. They seemed to be young enough to enjoy taunting Rhett more than attacking him, but he wondered how long this would last, though.

Once the initial adrenaline of dealing with the wolves had worn off, Rhett was fighting the blanket of exhaustion that fought to cover him over. Just as his struggle to keep his eyes open would falter we would hear the sniffing of the wolves at his feet. His eyes would snap back open and he would scream, “Yah! Yah! Get back!” while swinging wildly into the darkness.

“Yip!” The wolf yelped has the branch made contact.

Rhett heard the retreating paws far into the distance. His body finally relaxed, for now. Ever aware that they could be back at any moment. Or others, for that matter. He needed a fire.

Rhett finished dismantling Link’s sled, seeing as how that was the closest easiest wood to procure. He crawled around on his belly dragging his useless legs behind him to get the small fire start

With a small fire ablaze, he ventured farther to gather more sticks. It was a more arduous task than anything he had needed to do since this hell had started three days ago. Dripping in sweat, realizing he was losing precious water, Rhett finally had a large enough fire to offer some protection.

It was only then that he allowed sleep to offer him a sweet reprieve. 

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“Rhett. Rhett?”

As Rhett fought his way back to consciousness, he heard a raspy, weak voice calling him. He sprang to sit up and twisted to see that Link had his eyes open.

“Link, oh thank God.” Rhett whispered as he cupped his cheek.

“Hey,” Link responded in a dreamy exhale. His breath a fog in the early morning light

“I missed you, man.” Rhett stroked his hair staring lovingly at his battered friend.

“Where are we?” Link attempted to focus his eyes on the canopy of trees above him

“We’re closer to camp. They’ll be here soon.” Rhett looked around as if to will his words into being.

Link turned his face to Rhett, looking but not seeing. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, Rhett.”

“That’s good, right?” Rhett said almost inaudibly, not daring to say the words he knew weren’t true.

“I’m cold.” Link took a few lazy blinks.

“I know. Me too, buddy. I can’t get to any more logs. I’ve hurt my back. It’s kinda bad.” Rhett looked down at his limp legs. He worried briefly about the ramifications of his injury but shook his head to bring himself back.

Rhett got as close as possible to Link and wrapped his arms around him as best as he could.

“There. Is that better? You feel warmer?” Rhett felt Link’s face against his hair nod.

“Rhett, I’m going to rest now,” Link croaked softly.

Rhett snapped his head up to see. “No, please. Stay with me. Please Link.”

Then Link closed his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath.

Then silence.

Rhett laid his head across Link’s chest to listen.

Silence.

“No. No, no, no. Don’t you give up on me, Neal!” Rhett’s voice rose in volume until he was screaming.

Link merely lay there with his mouth slightly gaped. Rhett searched his wrists and neck for a pulse. Just as the realization that none was to be found, he heard a growling behind him.

Rhett whipped his head around to see four large wolves encircling him. He reached for his knife sensing the futility of that action. These were older wolves, they weren’t here to play. Given their number and size, he would surely perish in the razor sharp teeth of his attackers.

But again his anger overtook his fear and he brandished his knife. His friend may be gone, but they were not going to take his body. If not for himself, he would fight for Link.

Suddenly, the wolves looked up to the sky and darted off as wind whipped around the crude campsite.

Rhett followed their gaze up to … angels?

But, were angel wings meant to be so loud?


	8. In Sickness and Health

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys finally make it out of the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta, @criminalmind1927

“Roger base, we have both men on board and heading back to camp.”

“10-4 Air Rescue, ambulance is waiting.”

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It was over.

His time in hell. And, he supposed, his life. As he knew it.

Once the rescue chopper landed, Rhett could feel the stretcher being carried.

“Rhett, honey, it’s me. It’s Jessie.” She looked so beautiful through her tears and worry. The relief and love shown through.

But all Rhett could do was mourn his friend. His best friend. The only other person beside Jessie he wanted to walk through this life with. The thought that he had to live the rest of his life without Link tore at his heart. 

“Link.”

“Don’t cry baby, we got you. You’re going to be fine. I just know it.”

_She doesn’t know yet. I’m sorry baby I did all I could. I tried with everything I had in me. When she finds out, oh god, when Christy--._

“Link.” He cried

A serious man in a flight suit with a cross emblazoned on the shoulder approached and placed his hand on Jessie’s shoulder. “Ma’am we have to get him in the air ambulance.”

Jessie held on to Rhett’s hand and tearfully said, I love you, as they wheeled his stretcher to an awaiting helicopter. This one was outfitted with a dizzying array of medical equipment.

As the helicopter took off, the man in the flight suit made quick work of examining Rhett, searching for injuries, and asking Rhett a number of questions.

“Med Center this is AirAm Rocky, ETA is 12 minutes. 42-year old male. Lost 4 days out in Wolf Pass. Vitals, BP 140/90, Pulse 110, Resp 24. Alert & oriented x3. No obvious injury sites; however, loss of movement in lower extremities bilaterally. Negative reflexes, negative Babinski. 18 gauge IV started, Ringers Lactate to gravity.”

“10-4 AirAm Rocky. We heard you had two?”

“Negative, Med Center. AirAm Nova is not enroute yet.”

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Rhett stared at the rapidly dripping IV chamber thankful for the hydration. The nurse had explained that he couldn’t drink anything in case he needed to go to surgery. But she had given him a wet washcloth to moisten his lips during his bath.

The big clock in the ER bay showed him that he had only been there 20 minutes. His mind was numb and struggled to keep up with everything. One minute he was fending off wolves and literally the next he was laying on a hospital gurney.

The flurry of activity around him stopped as a young man in a crisp white lab coat entered the room.

“Mr. McLaughlin, I’m Dr. Benton, your neurosurgeon.” Rhett raised his hand wearily under the weight on IV tubing and blood pressure cuff.

“Unfortunately, we need to take you to surgery immediately.” The doctor slapped two x rays on a backlit screen. “You can see here you have three grade four ruptured discs in your lumbar spine. I believe if we alleviate the pressure on the spinal cord quickly, we can preserve some function in your legs.” 

“Sure. Great.” Rhett still could care less about his own health, he needed to know where Link was. “Have you heard anything about the man they brought in with me?”

Without looking up from the chart the surgeon answered, “I’m sorry. No one else has been choppered in.”

The doctor seemed to grow smaller as Rhett’s vision narrowed, his world crashing around his ears.

Rhett wanted so badly to talk to Jessie about what happened. To make sure she understood he did all he could. “Can I wait for my wife?”

“We really need to go now.” Dr. Benton finished with his chart and handed it to the nurse, “Prep him and I’ll meet you in Pre-op in 20.”

The doctor finally made eye contact, “We’ve got one of the preeminent neurosurgical teams in the area. You’re in good hands with Dr. Rosenstein and me.” And with that he left.

Rhett wished he could care.

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“He looks like he’s sleeping.” Rhett whispered as he carded Link’s bangs from his face.

“He _is_ sleeping Rhett, they have him knocked out so he doesn’t fight the breathing tube,” Christy scolded while rearranging Links hair back the way it was before.

“I know that, I just mean he looks like he could wake up and start telling us all what to do at any minute,” Rhett said with a smirk.

Rhett and Christy turned to the sound of someone pulling a chart from the pocket in the door.

“Hi Dr. Rosenstein, do you have any news?” Christy stood and stepped towards the doctor anxiously.

“Hello, Christy.” The portly doctor turned to Rhett giving him a brief head-to-toe assessment. “Rhett you’re looking strong. How many laps are you walking now?”

“Just completed two this morning.” Rhett smiled then turned his attention to the man in the ICU bed. “How’s Link?”

“We have him on the strongest antibiotics there are but ultimately it’s up to Link to fight this. Our boy here is fighting this infection with everything he has. His white count is coming down and his fever is gone.” The doctor quickly scanned the thin metal chart, turning a few pages. “I foresee removing the breathing tube in the next few days.”

“That’s amazing. Thank you Dr. Rosenstein.” Christy looked relieved and sat back at her husband’s side to continue her loving vigil.

The doctor put a hand on Rhett’s shoulder. “Rhett, I heard that you took very good care of your friend out there in the wilderness. I wanted you to know that if it wasn’t for your vigilant care of Link’s wounds we would be looking at a very different outcome.” 

Rhett smiled and ducked his head. “I did the same thing he would have done for me.”

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3 months later ...

“Link, dammit, quit stealing my cane!” Rhett frustratingly yelled as he looked around from his seat.

“Fine, here.” Link got up from his desk and held out the shiny black cane. “I like yours better than mine. Yours has flames. Mine is just dull grey.”

Rhett yanked away the cane from Link with mischief in his eyes, “That’s because I’ll have mine longer.” He held the cane up and admired as the red and yellow flames curled around, “You’ll just have one temporarily.”

“But still …” Link pouted. “My scar is manlier than yours.” Link absentmindedly ran his fingers along the scar through his shirt.

“Mine is 8 inches long!’ Rhett exclaimed.

“Yeah but it’s on your back. Mine’s right here where people can see it.” Link puffed his chest with pride.

“Maybe we can go back where we don’t talk to each other.” Rhett spun around his chair towards his desk with a grin.

“No such thing, bo. You’re stuck with me.” Link caught the back of his chair with the handle of his cane and pulled Rhett back around. “Til Death Do Us Part.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @Your-Borderline-Babe on Tumblr. Slip into my DMs.


End file.
